Psychotherapy and Vedanta with special guest John Baxter
Sunday 9nd July, 7 pm Madrid CET
Dear Friends
This coming Sunday, ShiningWorld would like to introduce you to one of our endorsed teachers, John Baxter, a friend and retired psychotherapist living in California, who has assiduously applied himself to Vedanta for the last decade after a stint in Buddhism and challenging health and family issues. Because human psychology evolved long before spiritual sciences, it is not surprising that Vedanta and psychotherapy overlap in important ways.
Because John’s knowledge of both Vedanta and psychology is profound and he lives the teaching, we invited him to write a blog on ShiningWorld and interact online with those of you who have come to this great teaching through your devotion to the study of the human mind. The blog, which will be published bi-monthly, looks at the similarities and differences between Vedanta and modern psychology. As you know karma yoga is more than adequate for managing the mind and emotions, but for those of us who are having difficulty may benefit from the psychotherapeutic model.
https://www.non-dualpsychology.com
See here for more of John's writing:
“Vedanta describes three realms: the personal (Jiva); the world (God, the created realm); and the non-dual realm. Only the non-dual is real… Real, meaning unchanging. The other two realms are apparently real. Meaning changing. What’s the value of this statement? To live closest to the truth, and avoid suffering we need to place our identity in that which doesn’t change…
At times projection and denial protect us from re-experiencing negative emotions. Since we tend to resist looking at our personal stories, they remain hidden in our unconscious minds. You can see the difficulty. I believe if we don’t clear up the personal realm, by being a witness to your thoughts and feelings in a neutral way, then there’s a high likelihood that as we progress to understanding the worldly and non-dual realm, that our new understanding will contain contaminants of unresolved personal stuff, so-called spiritual bypassing.
In Vedanta, you continually refine the stories of yourself and the world by adopting scriptural stories temporally, then patiently and carefully negate the parts that aren’t consistent with non-dual reality. Which is ultimately all stories. You continue to experience, and hopefully enjoy the stories, even as you realize they are both true and false simultaneously. Remember there’s no story in the non-dual realm."
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8346167587
Meeting ID: 834 616 7587
Passcode: 2023
1. Video of the Week: Nisargadatta's Meditations with a commentary by James from last Sunday
Click here for the finished Notes on Nisargadatta by James.
2. The Path to Self-Actualization
Registrations are open for Annual Campout, Trout Lake, USA 20th - 25th August 2023
Text: The Path to Self-Actualization: Exploring the Nature of the Self, Non-dual Zero-Sum Reality, Beautiful Intelligent Ignorance (Maya), Meditation, and Devotion
Venue: Mt. Adams Guler Trout Lake County Park,18 Park Road Trout Lake, WA 98650.
Price: By donation only. It is called Guru Dakshina which means that you contribute to the teacher and the teaching tradition according to your means and your appreciation of the spiritual value of the teaching.
For further information regarding logistics, camping and housing, please see here:
https://www.shiningworld.com/events/annual-campout-trout-lake-usa-20th-25th-august-2023/
If you plan to attend, please REGISTER for this event via: sundari.shiningworld@gmail.com
3. Satsang of the Week:
4. James’ Audiobooks
If you'd like to listen to James' audiobooks narrated as MP3s, you have the option to make a donation of 15 Euros to ShiningWorld. Afterwards, you can contact Georg at georg.shiningworld@gmail.com. Kindly inform him of your preferred audiobook for download:
The Essence of Enlightenment - Audiobook MP3
The Yoga of Love (Bhakti Sutras) - Audiobook MP3
The Yoga of the Three Energies (Mind Management) - Audiobook MP3
Otherwise, you can listen to them via the Membership platform on Youtube
That concludes this week's newsletter. We have one more remarkable guest speaker scheduled for the upcoming meetings on the 16th of July before we are heading to the United States. Stay tuned and don't miss out!
Ramji and Sundari
For any further information, contact: Sundari.Shiningworld@gmail.com